president obama on election day. they also re-elected a republican majority in the house. in doing so, they gave us all a mandate. it was not a mandate to raise taxes on families and small businesses. it was mandate for us to work together to begin solving a massive debt that threatens our country's future. >> joining me now is political columnist for "the washington post" dana mill bank and reid wilson. dana, i will begin with you. are there any plausible scenarios where they get everything done by january 1? >> this is the season of miracles. so we can't say absolutely that they will not get anything done. there is not a whole lot of optimism in this town particularly now that the president has gone to the beach in hawaii and members have gone home. the likely scenario is we have to go over the cliff and members can see the ravaging of the american economy as a result of the pan take would instill. and that may move them back to the table to a point they feel like they can make the concessions that everybody knows